Improving the assessment of measurement invariance: Using regularization to select anchor items and identify differential item functioning.

ABSTRACT: A common challenge in the behavioral sciences is evaluating measurement invariance, or whether the measurement properties of a scale are consistent for individuals from different groups. Measurement invariance fails when differential item functioning (DIF) exists, that is, when item responses relate to the latent variable differently across groups. To identify DIF in a scale, many data-driven procedures iteratively test for DIF one item at a time while assuming other items have no DIF. The DIF-free items are used to anchor the scale of the latent variable across groups, identifying the model. A major drawback to these iterative testing procedures is that they can fail to select the correct anchor items and identify true DIF, particularly when DIF is present in many items. We propose an alt

SUBMITTER: Belzak WCM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7343596 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature